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OOC Information:
Name: Kd7sov
Are you over 15? Indeed.
Contact: In order of preference: AIM (Kd7sov), Plurk (kd7sov), PM
IC Information:
Name: (Pre) Felix (Re) Fred Vandenberg
Canon: Golden Sun
Age: 18 (now 19 in-game)
Preincarnation Species: Human (Adept)
Preincarnation Appearance: Here
Any differences: Shorter hair, more modern/plausible clothing style.
General note: Canon uses the term “Psynergy” to replace both “magic” (which is said a few times, but not by Adepts) and “spell” (which, to the best of my recollection, is not). I have and will attempt to be clear, but I don’t guarantee perfection.
Preincarnated History: Felix was born in the village of Vale. Like most of the other people in Vale, he was an Adept (someone who can use the elemental magic Psynergy). His childhood was fairly uneventful, until a strange, magical storm struck Vale when he was fifteen.
As a result of this storm, Felix fell into the river running near his home and was swept downstream, along with his parents and another local man (who eventually became his father-in-law). They were saved from drowning by foreigners who had inadvertently caused the storm, who kidnapped the Valeans to their arctic home of Prox. The adults were kept as hostages, but Felix was convinced to join the kidnappers on their quest to save the world by lighting the four Elemental Lighthouses. As it turned out, to light these Lighthouses would require the Elemental Stars, which Vale had been founded to guard.
About three years after the storm, then, Felix, his kidnappers-cum-mentors, and another ally returned to Vale (with Felix ina frankly awful disguise) to steal them. This did not entirely sit right with Felix, but he eventually decided it would be better to be able to save the world than to stay faithful to a village that thought he was dead. It so happened that on the very day that they arrived a group of villagers – including Felix’s little sister Jenna and an old scholar studying Psynergy – took a trip to the nearby Sol Sanctum, where the Elemental Stars were kept. Felix’s group followed them in and let them disarm the trap that had set off the storm three years earlier. The scholar seemed to feel that he could protect the Stars better than walls and magic traps, and study them at the same time, so he persuaded the younger villagers to gather the Stars and bring them to him.
This, of course, was better than the Proxians could have hoped – the Sanctum was open and they wouldn’t even have to collect the Stars themselves. Unfortunately, they revealed themselves too soon. Complications ensued and they ended up fleeing for their lives with only three of the four Stars, kidnapping Jenna and the scholar on the way.
Sure that the other Valeans would follow, bringing the fourth Elemental Star – whether to retrieve the other three, or to rescue their kidnapped friends, it didn’t matter – the group set out to light the first three Lighthouses. The two parties met up at Mercury Lighthouse just after its beacon – a powerful source of water energy – was lit. They fought, but neither side won decisively, and so the chase went on.
They ended up chasing around the circumference of a continent, due to a combination of natural obstacles and inconvenient disasters. The others persuaded Felix to help them set up further obstacles and traps for their pursuers, including blocking a major trade route. Felix also tried to persuade his sister that he wasn’t a monster, succeeding only slowly. Near the second Lighthouse they picked up a young Wind Adept, Sheba – who was being transported due to political machinations – when her official escort proved incapable of dealing with the monsters that had begun to appear along the route. Felix quickly fell in love.
By this time, stresses within the group had begun to show. While Felix finally reconciled with Jenna, the Proxians’ tempers (never very good at the best of times) had frayed immensely. By the time they reached the second Lighthouse, he was ready to confront them – either of whom could have defeated him in combat – over Sheba’s safety. Unfortunately, this confrontation kept them from lighting the Venus beacon (which provided earth energy) before their pursuers caught up. Both of the Proxians were killed in the ensuing battle, but they managed to light the beacon before they died. Sheba fell from the aerie and Felix jumped after her.
Surprisingly, neither of them died of this; through some combination of luck, their respective Psynergy, and the effects of the newly-lit beacon, they struck forgiving water instead of land and made their way to the peninsula where the others were waiting.
Except that the peninsula had become an island – a floating island. Eventually it came to rest against another continent. Felix and the others set out to find a ship so that they could reach the remaining two Lighthouses. Unfortunately, it seemed that all the ships had been destroyed by a tidal wave caused when the second beacon woke a sleeping sea-god. After many trials they were able to find a ship – in the possession of a new ally, Piers, who came from mysterious Lemuria.
The recent upheavals had raised reefs that prevented Felix’s group from sailing to where the other Lighthouses were, so they traveled to Lemuria (among other places) to look for help. They received the help they sought, but also received disturbing news – that the world was essentially eating itself, and thus saving it had a sooner deadline than they had thought.
Eventually they made their way to the third Lighthouse, and again their pursuers caught up, but here they were able to have a discussion, and Felix was able to persuade the other group that their cause was right. They thus joined forces to light the final Lighthouse – a source of fire without which winter seemed unable to end.
At the top of the last Lighthouse, they were confronted by the Wise One, an ancient Psynergetic construct that warned of the dangers of restoring the elemental energies to the world. It told them of the ways those energies had been misused in the past. Finally, unable to persuade Felix and his group to let the world die now rather than risk its end later, the Wise One summoned a dragon – actually the adults from Vale who were kidnapped with Felix, transformed – to stop them. They defeated this dragon, learned the truth about it, and lit the beacon anyway.
The result was astounding. Not only did the expected fire energy rush into the world, but the combined energies of the four Lighthouses set off the “Golden Sun event”, an ill-understood effect that (among other things) extended the lives of Felix and his companions, healed his parents, and began a long-term geographical upheaval. The world was saved, but at what cost?
After saving the world, what happened to Felix is unclear. He was officially banished from his former hometown, after which point none of his old friends (except possibly Sheba, whom he had quite literally fallen for) heard from him again. In fact, he traveled to a remote village inhabited by xenophobes, and attempted to live out his life there quietly.
(See also: wiki page)
Reincarnated History Fred was born in North Platte, Nebraska, although he doesn’t remember it. His mother found a job in Locke City around the time he turned two, so the family moved there and has remained ever since. Fred’s childhood was fairly uneventful; he was enrolled in various summer sports activities, but never really took to any of them, and eventually he just watched his little sister’s games instead. He did take to drums, enough that he’s got his own set, but he’s never had much inclination to join a band with them; he just likes playing with rhythms. He did decently well in school – no straight-A semesters, but he never failed a class either. He managed to graduate from high school without finding a driving ambition, so on his father’s suggestion he’s now filling general ed requirements at Locke City University (which he tends to call “Lock U”, mostly because it amuses his friends). At this point he’s thinking he might go into business, possibly pursuing an MBA at a nice school. That’s a ways off, though, as he’s still a freshman.
Since receiving his numbers, Fred has had an eventful life. He was one of the early sighters of the first Vermedi, prior to the expedition to meet the Sage (in which he also participated). Not long afterward, he was startled to find out that his great-aunt was also on the network, just in time to help him deal with the cat he got as an Echo, which would otherwise have caused problems with his father's allergies. Then a Vermedi
infected his mother, causing her to die. He participated in an attempt to find out the source of the tainted water, losing his number shortly afterward. Since then, he's been trying to deal with his mother's death without the knowledge of what actually happened. He's also been stressed because his dad, in a similar situation, has kept waffling about whether to leave town. He did return to LCU for the spring semester, but is beginning to regret that decision.
First Echo: From touching the snake statue near the Dead District, Fred has regained the memory of the storm that took him from Vale. Specifically, he remembers being in a river in heavy rain, struggling against the current, while someone (his sister, but the memory wouldn't include that knowledge) screams "Felix!"
Other echoes: from the sensation of being haunted in May, Fred has reduced speed of aging. From the statues in the art gallery, he has a memory of Yepp's Song. From seeing a Vermedi, he gained low-level sword skills. From the encounter with the Sage of Earth, Fred has a reduced form of the Spire Psynergy. From fighting bat-things and Vermedi in the mine, he got Cure Psynergy. From encountering a Vermini-affected cat, he received the Djinni Echo in the form of his own cat. From having his mother be transformed by the Vermedi, he got the Sol Blade. From some details of the prior experience, he also got an increased determination to save the world. From drinking the tainted water, Fred got a memory of seeing Gaia Falls, the waterfall at the edge of the world.
Preincarnation Personality: Felix was a very moral person, and ethical on the large and small scales, but he had trouble with mid-range ethics. Specifically, he set out to save the world and was considerate to individuals, but he didn’t see a lot of reasons for other people’s laws and rules (such as “don’t come into the monastery when the gate is closed” or “women cannot be titled Heroes of Anemos”) to apply to him and his friends. Due to a combination of persistence, power, luck, stealth, and charisma, this never actually backfired on him, but it came close a few times.
In general, Felix was not a very social person. He could deal with people for short periods of time, and as noted above was considerate in one-on-one encounters, but he had difficulty in extended encounters or when dealing with large groups. He had few friends, and while he eventually became close to each of them, they mostly started out as people he had to work with for one reason or another, whom he gradually came to trust and value.
Felix was very determined. He was willing to take breaks and even sidequests, but once he set his mind to something he never lost sight of his goal. This applied particularly to any promise he made; he would do everything in his power to fulfill it. The involvement of family was another major motivation; many of his canonical actions, including accepting the quest in the first place, were undertaken at least partly to protect members of his family.
Emotionally, Felix was very stable. He experienced highs and lows like anyone else, but would not easily succumb to depression or elation. He was usually able to think clearly and analytically regardless of noise or distractions - most notably, in the heat of battle, at the Great Gabomba (an immense tribal idol full of giant moving cogs and gears), and in Mars Lighthouse (generally aligned with fire, and containing many obstacles that involved quick-moving flamethrowers and/or mazes of ice).
One thing that would (briefly) turn Felix aside from his quest was an encounter with someone in trouble that he thought he could help. He was under no obligation to fix the Alhafrans’ ship or rescue Kushinadaapart from the fact that the plot wouldn’t progress otherwise, but he had to try.
When the fate of the world wasn’t at stake, Felix didn’t like to be pushy. He would generally only speak if he felt he had something useful to contribute to a conversation, and would usually drop a subject if it seemed to be making the other person uncomfortable.
Occasionally, Felix would consider what he might have done with himself if he hadn't been abducted and needed to save the world. His mother was an artist and his father a woodworker, but neither really appealed to him. What did, from time to time - though he never did anything about it - was farming. Hard work, in the earth and the open air... But he always thought of it as a "what could have been" instead of a "what might be". Though he would be unlikely to articulate it even to himself, he felt that his fate had been set when he started working and training to help save the world.
One thing that Felix particularly valued was preparedness. For instance, even though his powers usually included healing - and it was almost certain that at least one of his companions would have such abilities, even when he didn't - he made sure to carry healing supplies just in case. Sometimes he would even carry extra weapons, although weapons take up a lot of space and he was careful enough that they almost never broke.
Felix was never a great cook - not the kind of person you'd hire to work in a restaurant, or even ask to feed guests very often - but he was good enough to feed himself consistently, and he enjoyed the process. In particular, he liked thinking of it as a kind of alchemy - combinations of solid things and water and air and heat - and he also liked the way he could make something useful and pleasing from something that was not so much of either.
One thing Felix really liked was to know and understand things. He didn't want to be pushy about asking people things, but he had no compunctions about (for instance) letting his friends use their Mind Read Psynergy and sharing the results. As noted below, he didn't generally read for pleasure, but he did develop the skill of skimming - sometimes whole bookshelves at a time - to find out interesting or useful things. This desire was not about knowing more than others, or about having knowledge to share - though he would share knowledge, if asked - but simply about understanding the world and what was on it.
Any differences: First and foremost, Fred is much less driven than Felix. He lacks the “the world is depending on me” outlook that prompted his preincarnation’s determination. He’s much more likely to be found relaxing, especially with a book (Felix was certainly capable of reading, but didn’t often do it for recreation).
Indeed, books are Fred's primary form of entertainment - video games and most shows and movies don't particularly appeal to him. Like Felix - though to a lesser extent - social interaction just isn't his thing. He does like to listen to music, or play his drums as implied above, but not as often or as extensively as he reads.
Fred is far more interested than Felix in not running afoul of authorities. Those he knew when he was young tended to seem quite stern, and he’d rather not be sterned at for cause. And the best way to avoid their attention, he figures, is to not do anything questionable. (By the same token, though, he’s not going to turn anyone in for their own questionable actions. Frown at them, probably; tattle, no.)
In many ways, Fred is more moderate than Felix was. He’s less likely to go out of his way for others, and more likely to speak up just to say something. And, yes, to put his foot in his mouth. He shares some of Felix’s emotional stability, but not to the same extent, and he is more likely to freak out or otherwise compromise his thinking.
While Fred does not like to travel significantly, he does enjoy wandering the streets of Locke. He is aware that this is not the safest of activities, but he’s been lucky enough to not get hurt so far. (And it is luck, rather than skill; his idea of self-defense is essentially “run away; if you can’t do that, hit them in the face; if you can’t do that, scream”.) In particular, he likes to find what he calls “secret places”, alleys and the like that aren't blocked off or forbidden, per se, but that most people don’t notice or use.
Abilities: Felix was trained to proficiency in the use of all types of swords, as well as battle-axes and maces; he practiced all of these on his quest but focused on longswords. His greatest ability, though, was his “Psynergy” – elemental powers that have aspects of both magic and psionics. Over the course of his quest to save the world he allied with Djinn who could change his abilities; this post has details. In addition to the abilities noted there, he could cast Move (short-range lateral telekinesis on one unsecured inanimate object at a time; targets could vary in size and mass from stools to larger-than-life statues, with height-to-width ratios within a certain range), Retreat (a specialized teleport spell that would return him and his party to the entrance of a dungeon when they were inside), and Sand (which would turn him into a mobile, sentient pile of sand, though it would only last as long as he was in contact with normal sand) regardless of his Djinn. It is worth noting that all Psynergies were directly visible to Adepts and invisible to those without the ability, although the effects (such as an object moving, or rocks appearing) could be seen by anyone.
Most of Felix’s equipment was unremarkable, but there were various items that could grant additional spells (all of the items in the first two sections were available to him, although he usually only used the Grindstone, Scoop Gem, and Tremor Bit). Additionally, very near the end of his quest he obtained a sword, the Sol Blade, that could sometimes summon a meteor to strike an enemy for significant damage.
Upon the successful completion of his quest, Felix (like his friends) was exposed to the Golden Sun event, which drastically reduced his aging. (How much is unclear; one relevant character is said to have gained ten apparent years, thirty years afterward, while another is not visibly different and a third is reported to have said that he looks “older, but not much”.) In addition, as a result of being on the Aerie of each of the Elemental Lighthouses when it was lit, Felix’s Psynergy powers became more powerful with the Golden Sun effect.
Roleplay Sample – Third Person: An older, AU-ed Felix finds himself in another world; in progress
Roleplay Sample - Network: [Handwritten][From the "taking shelter" prompt at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
saveyourbrain, adapted for home use]
Day Five, checking in.
Still alive. All of us are fine, except we're probably all getting the flu.
[Fred briefly sketches a quartet of stick figures, presumably to represent "all of us"; a male, a female, a slightly smaller male, a female smaller than that. He puts a checkmark by each of their heads.]
The wind's still going, but I think the snow has stopped. Anyone high enough to tell?
Power and water are still out, but from what you guys are saying that's not too surprising. Food seems fine - I guess it's cold enough to not go bad, even without the fridge. Not sure how much longer it'll last, though.
Stay cool Keep warm, everyone. Much as you can.
Any Questions? Why do so many posts have numbers (usually ordinal)? Should I do the same thing?
Also, it’s all right if I do action-stuff in narration style and network-stuff in bracket notation, right?
Name: Kd7sov
Are you over 15? Indeed.
Contact: In order of preference: AIM (Kd7sov), Plurk (kd7sov), PM
IC Information:
Name: (Pre) Felix (Re) Fred Vandenberg
Canon: Golden Sun
Age: 18 (now 19 in-game)
Preincarnation Species: Human (Adept)
Preincarnation Appearance: Here
Any differences: Shorter hair, more modern/plausible clothing style.
General note: Canon uses the term “Psynergy” to replace both “magic” (which is said a few times, but not by Adepts) and “spell” (which, to the best of my recollection, is not). I have and will attempt to be clear, but I don’t guarantee perfection.
Preincarnated History: Felix was born in the village of Vale. Like most of the other people in Vale, he was an Adept (someone who can use the elemental magic Psynergy). His childhood was fairly uneventful, until a strange, magical storm struck Vale when he was fifteen.
As a result of this storm, Felix fell into the river running near his home and was swept downstream, along with his parents and another local man (who eventually became his father-in-law). They were saved from drowning by foreigners who had inadvertently caused the storm, who kidnapped the Valeans to their arctic home of Prox. The adults were kept as hostages, but Felix was convinced to join the kidnappers on their quest to save the world by lighting the four Elemental Lighthouses. As it turned out, to light these Lighthouses would require the Elemental Stars, which Vale had been founded to guard.
About three years after the storm, then, Felix, his kidnappers-cum-mentors, and another ally returned to Vale (with Felix in
This, of course, was better than the Proxians could have hoped – the Sanctum was open and they wouldn’t even have to collect the Stars themselves. Unfortunately, they revealed themselves too soon. Complications ensued and they ended up fleeing for their lives with only three of the four Stars, kidnapping Jenna and the scholar on the way.
Sure that the other Valeans would follow, bringing the fourth Elemental Star – whether to retrieve the other three, or to rescue their kidnapped friends, it didn’t matter – the group set out to light the first three Lighthouses. The two parties met up at Mercury Lighthouse just after its beacon – a powerful source of water energy – was lit. They fought, but neither side won decisively, and so the chase went on.
They ended up chasing around the circumference of a continent, due to a combination of natural obstacles and inconvenient disasters. The others persuaded Felix to help them set up further obstacles and traps for their pursuers, including blocking a major trade route. Felix also tried to persuade his sister that he wasn’t a monster, succeeding only slowly. Near the second Lighthouse they picked up a young Wind Adept, Sheba – who was being transported due to political machinations – when her official escort proved incapable of dealing with the monsters that had begun to appear along the route. Felix quickly fell in love.
By this time, stresses within the group had begun to show. While Felix finally reconciled with Jenna, the Proxians’ tempers (never very good at the best of times) had frayed immensely. By the time they reached the second Lighthouse, he was ready to confront them – either of whom could have defeated him in combat – over Sheba’s safety. Unfortunately, this confrontation kept them from lighting the Venus beacon (which provided earth energy) before their pursuers caught up. Both of the Proxians were killed in the ensuing battle, but they managed to light the beacon before they died. Sheba fell from the aerie and Felix jumped after her.
Surprisingly, neither of them died of this; through some combination of luck, their respective Psynergy, and the effects of the newly-lit beacon, they struck forgiving water instead of land and made their way to the peninsula where the others were waiting.
Except that the peninsula had become an island – a floating island. Eventually it came to rest against another continent. Felix and the others set out to find a ship so that they could reach the remaining two Lighthouses. Unfortunately, it seemed that all the ships had been destroyed by a tidal wave caused when the second beacon woke a sleeping sea-god. After many trials they were able to find a ship – in the possession of a new ally, Piers, who came from mysterious Lemuria.
The recent upheavals had raised reefs that prevented Felix’s group from sailing to where the other Lighthouses were, so they traveled to Lemuria (among other places) to look for help. They received the help they sought, but also received disturbing news – that the world was essentially eating itself, and thus saving it had a sooner deadline than they had thought.
Eventually they made their way to the third Lighthouse, and again their pursuers caught up, but here they were able to have a discussion, and Felix was able to persuade the other group that their cause was right. They thus joined forces to light the final Lighthouse – a source of fire without which winter seemed unable to end.
At the top of the last Lighthouse, they were confronted by the Wise One, an ancient Psynergetic construct that warned of the dangers of restoring the elemental energies to the world. It told them of the ways those energies had been misused in the past. Finally, unable to persuade Felix and his group to let the world die now rather than risk its end later, the Wise One summoned a dragon – actually the adults from Vale who were kidnapped with Felix, transformed – to stop them. They defeated this dragon, learned the truth about it, and lit the beacon anyway.
The result was astounding. Not only did the expected fire energy rush into the world, but the combined energies of the four Lighthouses set off the “Golden Sun event”, an ill-understood effect that (among other things) extended the lives of Felix and his companions, healed his parents, and began a long-term geographical upheaval. The world was saved, but at what cost?
After saving the world, what happened to Felix is unclear. He was officially banished from his former hometown, after which point none of his old friends (except possibly Sheba, whom he had quite literally fallen for) heard from him again. In fact, he traveled to a remote village inhabited by xenophobes, and attempted to live out his life there quietly.
(See also: wiki page)
Reincarnated History Fred was born in North Platte, Nebraska, although he doesn’t remember it. His mother found a job in Locke City around the time he turned two, so the family moved there and has remained ever since. Fred’s childhood was fairly uneventful; he was enrolled in various summer sports activities, but never really took to any of them, and eventually he just watched his little sister’s games instead. He did take to drums, enough that he’s got his own set, but he’s never had much inclination to join a band with them; he just likes playing with rhythms. He did decently well in school – no straight-A semesters, but he never failed a class either. He managed to graduate from high school without finding a driving ambition, so on his father’s suggestion he’s now filling general ed requirements at Locke City University (which he tends to call “Lock U”, mostly because it amuses his friends). At this point he’s thinking he might go into business, possibly pursuing an MBA at a nice school. That’s a ways off, though, as he’s still a freshman.
Since receiving his numbers, Fred has had an eventful life. He was one of the early sighters of the first Vermedi, prior to the expedition to meet the Sage (in which he also participated). Not long afterward, he was startled to find out that his great-aunt was also on the network, just in time to help him deal with the cat he got as an Echo, which would otherwise have caused problems with his father's allergies. Then a Vermedi
infected his mother, causing her to die. He participated in an attempt to find out the source of the tainted water, losing his number shortly afterward. Since then, he's been trying to deal with his mother's death without the knowledge of what actually happened. He's also been stressed because his dad, in a similar situation, has kept waffling about whether to leave town. He did return to LCU for the spring semester, but is beginning to regret that decision.
First Echo: From touching the snake statue near the Dead District, Fred has regained the memory of the storm that took him from Vale. Specifically, he remembers being in a river in heavy rain, struggling against the current, while someone (his sister, but the memory wouldn't include that knowledge) screams "Felix!"
Other echoes: from the sensation of being haunted in May, Fred has reduced speed of aging. From the statues in the art gallery, he has a memory of Yepp's Song. From seeing a Vermedi, he gained low-level sword skills. From the encounter with the Sage of Earth, Fred has a reduced form of the Spire Psynergy. From fighting bat-things and Vermedi in the mine, he got Cure Psynergy. From encountering a Vermini-affected cat, he received the Djinni Echo in the form of his own cat. From having his mother be transformed by the Vermedi, he got the Sol Blade. From some details of the prior experience, he also got an increased determination to save the world. From drinking the tainted water, Fred got a memory of seeing Gaia Falls, the waterfall at the edge of the world.
Preincarnation Personality: Felix was a very moral person, and ethical on the large and small scales, but he had trouble with mid-range ethics. Specifically, he set out to save the world and was considerate to individuals, but he didn’t see a lot of reasons for other people’s laws and rules (such as “don’t come into the monastery when the gate is closed” or “women cannot be titled Heroes of Anemos”) to apply to him and his friends. Due to a combination of persistence, power, luck, stealth, and charisma, this never actually backfired on him, but it came close a few times.
In general, Felix was not a very social person. He could deal with people for short periods of time, and as noted above was considerate in one-on-one encounters, but he had difficulty in extended encounters or when dealing with large groups. He had few friends, and while he eventually became close to each of them, they mostly started out as people he had to work with for one reason or another, whom he gradually came to trust and value.
Felix was very determined. He was willing to take breaks and even sidequests, but once he set his mind to something he never lost sight of his goal. This applied particularly to any promise he made; he would do everything in his power to fulfill it. The involvement of family was another major motivation; many of his canonical actions, including accepting the quest in the first place, were undertaken at least partly to protect members of his family.
Emotionally, Felix was very stable. He experienced highs and lows like anyone else, but would not easily succumb to depression or elation. He was usually able to think clearly and analytically regardless of noise or distractions - most notably, in the heat of battle, at the Great Gabomba (an immense tribal idol full of giant moving cogs and gears), and in Mars Lighthouse (generally aligned with fire, and containing many obstacles that involved quick-moving flamethrowers and/or mazes of ice).
One thing that would (briefly) turn Felix aside from his quest was an encounter with someone in trouble that he thought he could help. He was under no obligation to fix the Alhafrans’ ship or rescue Kushinada
When the fate of the world wasn’t at stake, Felix didn’t like to be pushy. He would generally only speak if he felt he had something useful to contribute to a conversation, and would usually drop a subject if it seemed to be making the other person uncomfortable.
Occasionally, Felix would consider what he might have done with himself if he hadn't been abducted and needed to save the world. His mother was an artist and his father a woodworker, but neither really appealed to him. What did, from time to time - though he never did anything about it - was farming. Hard work, in the earth and the open air... But he always thought of it as a "what could have been" instead of a "what might be". Though he would be unlikely to articulate it even to himself, he felt that his fate had been set when he started working and training to help save the world.
One thing that Felix particularly valued was preparedness. For instance, even though his powers usually included healing - and it was almost certain that at least one of his companions would have such abilities, even when he didn't - he made sure to carry healing supplies just in case. Sometimes he would even carry extra weapons, although weapons take up a lot of space and he was careful enough that they almost never broke.
Felix was never a great cook - not the kind of person you'd hire to work in a restaurant, or even ask to feed guests very often - but he was good enough to feed himself consistently, and he enjoyed the process. In particular, he liked thinking of it as a kind of alchemy - combinations of solid things and water and air and heat - and he also liked the way he could make something useful and pleasing from something that was not so much of either.
One thing Felix really liked was to know and understand things. He didn't want to be pushy about asking people things, but he had no compunctions about (for instance) letting his friends use their Mind Read Psynergy and sharing the results. As noted below, he didn't generally read for pleasure, but he did develop the skill of skimming - sometimes whole bookshelves at a time - to find out interesting or useful things. This desire was not about knowing more than others, or about having knowledge to share - though he would share knowledge, if asked - but simply about understanding the world and what was on it.
Any differences: First and foremost, Fred is much less driven than Felix. He lacks the “the world is depending on me” outlook that prompted his preincarnation’s determination. He’s much more likely to be found relaxing, especially with a book (Felix was certainly capable of reading, but didn’t often do it for recreation).
Indeed, books are Fred's primary form of entertainment - video games and most shows and movies don't particularly appeal to him. Like Felix - though to a lesser extent - social interaction just isn't his thing. He does like to listen to music, or play his drums as implied above, but not as often or as extensively as he reads.
Fred is far more interested than Felix in not running afoul of authorities. Those he knew when he was young tended to seem quite stern, and he’d rather not be sterned at for cause. And the best way to avoid their attention, he figures, is to not do anything questionable. (By the same token, though, he’s not going to turn anyone in for their own questionable actions. Frown at them, probably; tattle, no.)
In many ways, Fred is more moderate than Felix was. He’s less likely to go out of his way for others, and more likely to speak up just to say something. And, yes, to put his foot in his mouth. He shares some of Felix’s emotional stability, but not to the same extent, and he is more likely to freak out or otherwise compromise his thinking.
While Fred does not like to travel significantly, he does enjoy wandering the streets of Locke. He is aware that this is not the safest of activities, but he’s been lucky enough to not get hurt so far. (And it is luck, rather than skill; his idea of self-defense is essentially “run away; if you can’t do that, hit them in the face; if you can’t do that, scream”.) In particular, he likes to find what he calls “secret places”, alleys and the like that aren't blocked off or forbidden, per se, but that most people don’t notice or use.
Abilities: Felix was trained to proficiency in the use of all types of swords, as well as battle-axes and maces; he practiced all of these on his quest but focused on longswords. His greatest ability, though, was his “Psynergy” – elemental powers that have aspects of both magic and psionics. Over the course of his quest to save the world he allied with Djinn who could change his abilities; this post has details. In addition to the abilities noted there, he could cast Move (short-range lateral telekinesis on one unsecured inanimate object at a time; targets could vary in size and mass from stools to larger-than-life statues, with height-to-width ratios within a certain range), Retreat (a specialized teleport spell that would return him and his party to the entrance of a dungeon when they were inside), and Sand (which would turn him into a mobile, sentient pile of sand, though it would only last as long as he was in contact with normal sand) regardless of his Djinn. It is worth noting that all Psynergies were directly visible to Adepts and invisible to those without the ability, although the effects (such as an object moving, or rocks appearing) could be seen by anyone.
Most of Felix’s equipment was unremarkable, but there were various items that could grant additional spells (all of the items in the first two sections were available to him, although he usually only used the Grindstone, Scoop Gem, and Tremor Bit). Additionally, very near the end of his quest he obtained a sword, the Sol Blade, that could sometimes summon a meteor to strike an enemy for significant damage.
Upon the successful completion of his quest, Felix (like his friends) was exposed to the Golden Sun event, which drastically reduced his aging. (How much is unclear; one relevant character is said to have gained ten apparent years, thirty years afterward, while another is not visibly different and a third is reported to have said that he looks “older, but not much”.) In addition, as a result of being on the Aerie of each of the Elemental Lighthouses when it was lit, Felix’s Psynergy powers became more powerful with the Golden Sun effect.
Roleplay Sample – Third Person: An older, AU-ed Felix finds himself in another world; in progress
Roleplay Sample - Network: [Handwritten][From the "taking shelter" prompt at
saveyourbrain, adapted for home use]Day Five, checking in.
Still alive. All of us are fine, except we're probably all getting the flu.
[Fred briefly sketches a quartet of stick figures, presumably to represent "all of us"; a male, a female, a slightly smaller male, a female smaller than that. He puts a checkmark by each of their heads.]
The wind's still going, but I think the snow has stopped. Anyone high enough to tell?
Power and water are still out, but from what you guys are saying that's not too surprising. Food seems fine - I guess it's cold enough to not go bad, even without the fridge. Not sure how much longer it'll last, though.
Any Questions? Why do so many posts have numbers (usually ordinal)? Should I do the same thing?
Also, it’s all right if I do action-stuff in narration style and network-stuff in bracket notation, right?
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